The Orange Kid
by ShikaNaru
Summary: Naruto's obsession with orange- how it began and how it changed him through the years. Really short ONE-SHOT


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**THE ORANGE KID**

The six year-old looked between the two shirts the unusually nice shopkeeper was offering him.

One was black with a dark green swirly-thing on the back and the other was bright orange. The shopkeeper, though more pleasant than most, was only offering to give him one, leaving the question of which one he should get.

In all honesty, Naruto liked the black one more. It was simple, similar to his favorite shirt, and the 'right' color for a ninja. The other shirt was almost sickeningly bright; he never really liked the color orange and this was the most eye-scorching shade possible. Plus, what self-respecting ninja wore orange? The enemy would spot him from twenty miles away!

As he opened his mouth to request the black one, a thought hit him- if an enemy would see him from so far away, how would his 'friends' in Konoha be able to ignore him? How could they whenever he was killing their eyes with the ugliest color known to man? They would have to see him, acknowledge his presence, maybe even _talk_ to him about its horrific existence!

"I'll take the orange one, please!" he chirped, a hopeful glint entering his eyes.

_Maybe-just maybe..._

OOooOOooOO

"Where'd he go?"

"You lost him?"

"Well..."

"The kid's covered in paint and wearing an orange jumpsuit, for god's sake! How'd you lose him?"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"Oh? How so? You lost an _orange_ kid!"

Hidden in the shadows, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the arguing Chunin. They really were idiotic if they didn't notice him.

"Hey, that 'orange kid' is the Uzumaki brat! He runs faster after a prank than Might Gai during a test of youth!"

The smile froze on the twelve year-old's face. Those random Chunin... they knew his name?

_Maybe-just maybe- they'll notice me..._

OOooOOooOO

"Can you believe it?"

"What?"

"That Uzumaki kid actually beat Neji Hyuuga!"

"No way! The same brat who used to run around pulling all those pranks?"

"The very same! He was even still wearing that awful orange outfit!"

"You're right, I don't believe it,"

"Well, as the number one, hyperactive, knuckle-headed ninja says himself- believe it!"

After the two civilians' chuckles subsided and they went on their merry way past Ichikaru's, Naruto continued to stare in shock into his bowl of ramen with the first true smile since the Old Man's funeral tugging at his lips.

_Maybe-just maybe- they'll notice me without the orange..._

OOooOOooOO

"C'mon, brat. Don't you think you've outgrown the orange?" Jiraiya asked, holding up a black and green tracksuit.

Had he? Was he ready to stop forcefully grabbing people's attention via horrible neon orange? Every time he'd ben noticed it had had something to do with his bright outfit. What if the gazes started slipping away from him after he was no longer an eyesore? What if-

"You know, you don't need it,"

Surprised, Naruto looked up at Jiraiya only to see a knowing glint in his usually laughing eyes.

"How about a compromise. I'll see if they have one just like this but with bits of orange instead of green, okay?"

Naruto nodded numbly, his mind racing.

_Maybe-just maybe- they'll notice me without the orange and finally see..._

OOooOOooOO

Shocked, exhausted, and beat-up, all Naruto could do for a few seconds was stare at the crowd in front of him.

At some point, every single one of them had hurt him. With some, like Iruka, it was on accident. With others, like the civilians, it had been intentional. They had ignored, beat, glared, and scoffed at him and his dreams time and time again. They had deliberately starved him of attention and affection as a young boy, they had laughed at him for being the dead last, and they had downright denied his dream of becoming the Hokage.

But now- now they were cheering for him.

They were clapping, smiling, laughing, crying, screaming, and chanting one thing.

"Nar-uto, Nar-uto, Nar-uto!"

Not 'demon scum', not 'orange kid', not 'number one, hyperactive, knuckle-headed ninja', but his actual _name_.

No one mentioned his outfit; they didn't care what he was wearing and probably never did.

_Maybe-just maybe- they'll notice me without the orange and finally see Naruto Uzumaki._

**So, this was written because my mom got pissed at me and took away electronics. How did I post this then, you ask, and I answer- I STILL HAD PAPER AND A PENCIL. Actually, that also pissed me off cuz I like pens. Oh well. And it helped that I got everything back after an hour. Ha, great parenting skills! Moi was totally ****unaffected! :D **

**Blatant advertising- Kokoro: Soul, Heart is a great story despite the renovations (that will be over by July 10, 2013) it is currently going through! In fact, the first two chappies are already fixed and completed! *.* It's amazing. **

**Please review!**


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